


Don't you, forget about me [Fan Art + fic]

by SpicyCheese



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Breakfast Club AU, Fanart, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 19:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5638450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyCheese/pseuds/SpicyCheese
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Short little drabble and accompanying sketch imagining what it would be like for Team Machine's characters in <i>The Breakfast Club</i> world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't you, forget about me [Fan Art + fic]

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was going to be just the picture, but I ended up adding just a bit of writing to round it out.

 

*_*_*_*_*

Harold Finch fights the urge to turn and just leave. He doesn’t want to be here, though he admits he deserves to be. Breaking the rules, no matter how you justify it, is still breaking the rules.

So it didn't come as a surprise when he received detention- though he felt detention on a Saturday to be a bit _excessive_. He knew before he acted that there would be some backlash from his choice and he weighed the outcome verses consequences. In short, Harold had done the math (he has always been good at math) and was satisfied with the sum of it. That in mind, as he rounds the corner towards the high school’s small library, he feels fairly at peace with his Saturday detention...

That is, until he sees whom he’ll be spending it with.

Harold pauses at the library door only momentarily before continuing in- his sense of duty the only thing strong enough to continue propelling him forward.

Four other students sit at various desks collected in the middle of the room. Harold selects a seat closer to the front, not especially eager to engage with his peers whom he catalogues quickly.

 _Quite the variety_ , he thinks.

The only one he’s intimately familiar with- if you count being taunted and teased daily by someone back in grade school _familiar_ \- is Lionel Fusco. Harold hardly recognizes him now. Lionel was always a big kid but as soon as he'd started playing football in 7th grade he seemed to double in size overnight. Overall it was probably a good thing for him. In addition to the physical benefits, Football also drew Lionel's attention away from the sport of bullying and- Harold suspected- also kept the need to "pummel" someone satiated. Still, Harold’s kept his distance since those days, which isn’t hard since they run in very different groups.

The others in the room, Harold only knows by reputation.

Seated a few seats to the right of Lionel is John Reese. Popular beyond belief, John’s on the fast track to success. A decent student, he serves on several school clubs, is the student body president and is currently dating Joss Carter- the Lacrosse star and easily the most popular girl in school. Teachers and students adore him and he’ll probably be Prom King... again. John is usually the picture of decorum- the model student- so Harold has no idea what someone like him is doing in a place like this.

Then again, one could say the same about Harold.

The last two students in the room sit towards the back. In the second to last row is Sameen Shaw and behind her but off to the left a little (and currently gazing in a creepily adoring way at Sameen), is Samantha Groves.

Harold remembers Samantha from elementary school. She had a best friend- Harold can’t remember the other girl’s name- but the two were connected at the hip... until the other girl stopped showing up at school one day. Harold can’t recall what happened _\- her family probably moved away or something_ \- but he did note that Samantha never seemed the same after that. She changed her name- insisted on only going by “Root” from that point forward- and avoided speaking to her peers entirely whenever possible. It was hard to tell if her friend’s sudden disappearance caused the change or if the girl was on a track that would have led to this regardless, but either way something is quite off with her.

Root is _technically_ enrolled in all the same Advanced and AP classes as Harold, though her attendance is spotty at best. When she does bother to show up teachers seem unsure what to do with her. They eye her wearily and hesitate calling on her if she does decide to raise her hand. Harold understands their hesitation. The girl’s responses are always correct (often a bit _too_ correct) and while they usually contain the answer to the original posed question, they also often contain commentary that leaves everyone feeling uncomfortable.

Harold recalls witnessing one such exchange between her and History teacher with a notorious reputation for making students cry. He asked her a question and the end of the exchange- in which she not only answered the question about Pinkertons, but also revealed several rather embarrassing personal details about him- the teacher walked out of the room and never returned (to the class, or the school, and some say the town in general.) Root was unpredictable, strange, and didn’t seem to operate within the rules- in short, she is someone Harold wants to avoid at all costs.

Likewise, he also would like to avoid the other girl that sits in the back- Sameen Shaw.

While teachers have no idea what to do with Root, they blatantly avoid Sameen. Harold can only categorize her extracurricular activities as disturbing. She has been escorted from campus no less than 3 times by the police (and that’s only in the past 3 months). He witnessed her toss the captain of the swim team over a table in the cafeteria earlier this year, because he tried to cut in front of her in line for food. Harold also assumes Sameen was behind the chemistry lab explosion two weeks ago as well... though there's no way for anyone to prove it.

Actually, other than incident in the cafeteria and a few other fist fights, there’s little actual evidence of most of the things Sameen is regularly accused of… Yet the small girl is in detention every afternoon. She's a mystery in a way. Despite the the trouble, she gets excellent grades though and Harold finds himself wondering sadly how many of her issues result from the way her rather uniquely stoic and less-than-social attitude is _perceived_ , rather than things she actually _does_.

Unfortunately, Harold’s thoughts are interrupted by the creaking of the door. It opens admitting Vice Principal Greer into the room. He clears his throat loudly, pointedly, to call everyone’s attention- a rather unnecessary action considering the room was already deafeningly silent.

“Our school, is like a small nation and I try to run it as such. For everyone to thrive we must keep a sense of order. That’s why we have rules. You all are here because you are outliers. You have done something to disturb that order and that is unacceptable.”

He begins to pace slowly across the front of the room, as his lecture continues. “For your detention today, I require a 500 word essay from each of you about how you can improve- specifically about how, in the future, you plan to keep the order the rest of us work so hard to preserve.”

A collective groan starts to rumble before Greer cuts it off sharply with, “-And you will do so in silence!” He clears his throat again, stops pacing, and composes himself. “This is a time for active introspection, not sleeping- _Ms. Shaw_. I’ll be back to collect your essays at 4pm. I suggest you use this time wisely.” He turns and begins walking towards the door.

“Wait, you’re _leaving_?” John asks, looking a bit confused.

Mr. Greer turns slowly on his heal to address John. “Yes, Mr. Reese. I had thought at least _you_ would recognize what that looks like.” His gaze moves from John, panning the room as he adds, “I’ll be in my office. Think of this as a second chance to practice keeping yourselves in order.”

And with that, he turns again. The clang of the metal door echoes off the library’s high ceiling as it falls shut behind him. The five remaining students sit in awkward silence, none of them looking forward to what the rest of the day might hold.

*_*_*_*_*

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for checking this out! I know it feels a bit unfinished so if anyone wants to take this idea and run with it- _please do_. I had so many ideas and headcanons for it but I'm currently in the middle of writing a monstrously long multi-chapter fic and definitely not able to devote any more to this particular project any time soon. It has _so_ many possibilities though :)


End file.
